1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to fletching arrows used in the practice of archery.
2. Description of Prior Art.
Feathers or sections of feathers are traditionally used for fletching arrows. Their use requires trimming to size, aligning and fastening to the arrow shaft. These steps are generally carried out by hand. This makes the arrow fletching process slow, tedious and expensive. Substitution of semi-rigid plastic films for the feather sections gives rise to the same difficulties.
The problems are similar for those who wish to repair arrows with damaged fletchings. It is difficult to find someone who has the apparatus and will refletch arrows at a reasonable price. As a result of this, many archers discard arrows with damaged fletches.
Prior attempts to remedy these problems utilized plastic unitary fletching such as disclosed in the patent to Lay U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,319. In the unitary fletching the vanes are connected to a cylindrical body which slips over the arrow shaft. The fletching is light weight, and it is difficult to gain purchase on the plastic fletching and pull it onto the shaft without severely distorting it. Once it is on the shaft, straightening out any twists and careful positioning are almost impossible because of the snug fit of the cylindrical body over the arrow shaft.
In the fletching of OEM arrows the assembling of a plastic unitary fletching onto the arrow shaft is still a hand operation. If one were to attempt to mold the fletching directly onto the arrow shaft, further problems would arise. Tremendous pressure is required to force the fluent plastic into the small and narrow sections of the mold cavity. This pressure is so great that it would immediately collapse a hollow cylindrical aluminum arrow shaft. Even if the arrow shaft were solid, or if it had a support core inside of it, the force exerted by the plastic moving under high pressure would tend to bend the shaft off of true center.